The $100 million first phase will include the development of a three story building housing a world-class Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum, a Cardinals-themed restaurant, and ticketed seating decks with views directly into Busch Stadium.

...

It’s decidedly less ambitious than earlier visions of the project, which has been on the drawing board for more than a decade with no real progress — a sore spot for both the Cardinals and the city.

But unlike those efforts, stressed Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III, this version is fully-financed, largely pre-leased, and attainable despite the weak economy.

...

The space is more than 80 percent spoken for, DeWitt said, though he wouldn’t name tenants yet beyond the Cardinals.

Of course, there have been plans before; they’ve stalled at the financing stage.

This time, the Cardinals and co-developer Cordish Co. plan to foot most of the $100 million bill themselves. They will also buy $18 million in bonds that will be paid off with city and state taxes on the site — bonds the team had struggled to sell in earlier efforts.“That removes a great bit of uncertainty,” DeWitt said.

The Cardinals also would build streets and sewer connections through the rest of the of the 10-acre site, but leave it as surface parking lots for now.

kcjak wrote:THAT'S what $100 million buys? At least they aren't trying to pass it off as a stadium expansion and getting financial assistance from the State.

I thought they already got money from the state for the BPV project "as part" of the Busch 3 renovations. Maybe I'm misremembering. I always thought that was the big gripe, though, that the organization had promised to build a P&L-style bar mall as part of the justification for the government subsidies for the stadium.

The project will get some public subsidies — the $18 million in bonds backed by taxes generated from the site — but Crim noted that Ballpark Village will not receive $22.5 million in New Markets Tax Credits the city had planned to award to an earlier version. Those incentives will need the approval of both state and city boards. A public hearing on them is set for July 5. If those approvals come quickly, DeWitt said, construction could start this fall, with an opening slated for spring of 2014.

There have been many incarnations of the long-stalled project, which the Cardinals promised to build as part of a deal for more than $200 million in state and local subsidies for the new Busch Stadium.

Hopefully that helps answer that. Off the top of my head I don't know any more than that. BPV went so far off into the weeds for so long I stopped paying attention for the most part...

A partnership between the Cardinals and Cordish Cos., a Baltimore developer, took a step forward this month as construction began on the first $100 million phase of Ballpark Village, situated on the site of the demolished old Busch Stadium, which was replaced in 2006 by the current ballpark next door. The site is now largely covered with parking lots and a softball field.

From the get-go, St. Louis said it supported the project but refused to guarantee bonds for it, a city spokesman said. The city and state authorized about $17 million in project bonds, which would be repaid from taxes produced by the development.

Bill DeWitt III, president of the Cardinals, acknowledged that the experience of officials in nearby Kansas City may have made it more challenging for his project to get the financing needed to move forward.

"The city here wasn't taking any risk, and they can certainly hold their head high that they've protected the taxpayers," he said.

I remember parking underneath the freeway in lots adjacent to the Cupples buildings when my dad took me to games back in the 70's and 80's. They were just big spooky buildings to a little kid back then. But, they captured my imagination and it's one of those things that sparked interest in downtown development. It carried over to KC when I moved up here to attend college. Loved working downtown for many years and walking those streets and seeing buildings razed and refurbished/re-purposed.

So glad that one of our aldermen over here in STL has the integrity to call out Cordish and the Cards on their BS. Also fairly pleased the city passed on securing bonds for this joke. Restaurants and bars are compliments to an urban environment, they do not create one. Smoke my bag Cordish

mean wrote:Jesus H. Parkinglot. If that's what a downtown stadium gets ya, I'll take the TSC any day.

The article raises some great economic points. And, maybe BPV is or isn't a good thing. Regardless, even the dirt softball field and a downtown stadium made the TGY...errr....TSC and the area around it look like crap.

Weird. So what happens when baseball season is over? Will it just sit there with no business for 6 months? Will Rams fans go sit in a Cardinals themed bar area (not close to the football stadium) and watch games? Seems like too much of a niche concept in a not too busy part of downtown. There are plenty of bars and things to do within the ballpark so not sure what the need is to go to Ballpark Village.

StL_Dan wrote:Regardless, even the dirt softball field and a downtown stadium made the TGY...errr....TSC and the area around it look like crap.

I'll grant you the "area around it" by a country mile, but Kauffman makes Busch III look like the Busch II version 2 it is. Cookie cutter fauxback bullshit. That is a classic example of flyover mentality midwesternism catching on to a trend right after it ceases being cool. And the Jones Dome versus Arrowhead? Sheeee-it. You're talking about a Charles Deaton, man.